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The birth defects caused by the drug thalidomide can range from moderate malformation to more severe forms. Possible birth defects include phocomelia , dysmelia , amelia , bone hypoplasticity , and other congenital defects affecting the ear, heart, or internal organs. [ 41 ]
The birth defects caused by thalidomide led to the development of greater drug regulation and monitoring in many countries. [9] [11] It was approved in the United States in 1998 for use as a treatment for cancer. [6] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. [12] It is available as a generic medication. [8] [13]
DES gained notoriety when it was shown to cause a rare vaginal tumor in girls and young women who had been exposed to this drug in utero.In 1971, the New England Journal of Medicine published a report showing that seven of eight girls and young women (ages 14 to 22) who had been diagnosed with vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma had been exposed prenatally to DES. [5]
Phocomelia is a congenital condition that involves malformations of human arms and legs which result in a flipper-like appendage. [1] [2] A prominent cause of phocomelia is the mother being prescribed the use of the drug thalidomide during pregnancy; however, the causes of most cases are to be determined.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most birth defects are believed to be caused by a complex mix of factors including genetics, environment, and behaviors, [13] though many birth defects have no known cause. An example of a birth defect is cleft palate, which occurs during the fourth through seventh weeks of ...
Teratogens are substances that may cause non-heritable birth defects via a toxic effect on an embryo or fetus. [1] Defects include malformations, disruptions, deformations, and dysplasia that may cause stunted growth, delayed mental development, or other congenital disorders that lack structural malformations. [2]
Her doctor explained that most babies diagnosed with the condition die before they are born or within 5 to 15 days after birth due to severe defects, said Lopes, who worked as a nurse for 14 years ...
McBride published a letter in The Lancet, in December 1961, noting a large number of birth defects in children of patients who were prescribed thalidomide, [9] after a midwife named Sister Pat Sparrow first suspected the drug was causing birth defects in the babies of patients under his care at Crown Street Women's Hospital in Sydney. [10]